Little Wonder
by cuz-CM's-awesome
Summary: Penelope's dog is special, she just hasn't realized how much yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds and I'm not making any profit from this story. **

**Summary: Penelope's dog is special, she just hasn't realized how much yet. **

**Please R&R **

**Enjoy! **

…

Penelope wrinkled her nose as she walked through the doors of her local animal shelter.

The antiseptic smell of cleaning solution and something else that was unidentifiable but very unpleasant practically hit her in the face as soon as her foot crossed the threshold.

Penelope took a moment to let her senses adjust before making her way towards the front desk.

A perky brunette, wearing a green tee and a huge smile, who Penelope guessed was little older than eighteen, greeted her enthusiastically.

"Hello there Ma'am," she said with an infectious grin "how can I help you today?"

Penelope smiled back at her, the girl's inviting attitude almost made up for the horrendous smell. "I was hoping to adopt a dog."

Amber's smile got impossibly wider "Oh goody, are dogs are always looking to go to their new and forever homes."

Penelope nodded "Well I've been thinking about it for a while and have finally decided now would be the perfect time to get a furry friend."

"That's great," Amber chimed "we have so many doggies that could make anyone an awesome companion. Now what you're going to want to do is go through that door there." Amber pointed to a large door just to Penelope's left. "In there you will find the Dog Room. Take your time as you look around and then once you've decided on the doggie that you think will make your next great companion, look for one of the staff. They will then sit you down and see whether the dog you picked is the right one for you. If everything goes well, you'll come back here, pay the donation fee, get your doggie micro-chipped, sign some papers and then you and your new best friend will be good to go."

Penelope nodded slowly, that was a lot to take in. She had been thinking that it would be easier however she was on a mission and nothing was going to stop her today. She had been thinking this decision over for the last month and she wasn't going to back out.

"Thank you," she said to Amber before turning and heading for the Dog Room.

As soon as she pushed the door open and walked in Penelope heard the barking and crying. There were cages upon cages, down one row and up the next, with on average more than one dog per cage.

Penelope felt like crying as she looked in at the dogs, some looking hopeful, others distant and sad.

She didn't know how she was going to choose. Would picking one dog be condemning another to death?

Penelope took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. She might not be able to save all these dogs but at least she'd be saving one life today.

Penelope took her time to look at all the dogs. Stopping to read their bios and watch their interactions as she approached.

There were a few other people in the room, most of them were huddled over by one cage that held a littler of eight week old Border Collie mix puppies.

Penelope had to admit they were adorable; however she didn't want a puppy. She knew that puppies always had a better chance of being adopted than the adult dogs, and she really wanted to give a dog that needed a second chance a home.

She was just trying to make up her mind over an energetic two year old Boston Terrier and a calm but loving four year old pointer mix, when she heard a whimper.

She looked down to the very last cage at the back of the room, one that she must have missed. There a slightly larger puppy than the Border Collies had its nose pressed up against the mesh wiring.

Penelope moved closer and picked up the puppy's clipboard with its bio on it.

It simply read:

_No Name _

_72038135_

_Pit Bull/Labrador mix _

_Female _

_3 months _

Penelope stared down at the puppy. "Hey there little girl," she said as she crouched to get a better look at her.

The puppy started wagging her tail. She had the soft tan coloring of a yellow lab all over except for a white marking on her muzzle.

Penelope wondered why no one was paying her any attention. She was just as cutes as the Collies, if not cuter.

"Hello Miss."

Penelope looked up to see a tall man with greying hair standing beside her.

"Have you come to a decision yet?" he asked.

Penelope straightened and looked at the man's name tag.

"Hi Ted," she said "I'm Penelope. I was just trying to decide between the Boston Terrier and the Pointer mix, but now I'm wondering why this little girl here isn't getting any attention?"

Ted sighed "She's part Pit Bull and she looks it too. Fortunately for her brothers and sisters they inherited their mother's looks and it was easy to find them homes. They all went at eight weeks of age, sadly for this girl Pits have gotten a bad rap and not many people are willing to take that on. It's a real shame too 'cause this girl is one of the sweetest pups I've ever known and she deserves a loving home."

Penelope felt tears threaten to fall again as she looked into the puppy's big brown eyes. She was sold. This pup was coming home with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**I can't believe how long this chapter took me to write. I kept redoing it and then when I finally had something I liked, I lost the notebook I had written it in. **

**Oh well, at least it's finally done. **

**I really like this story and it's one of the ones I plan to work on while I'm in China. **

**Anyway, enjoy! **

…

It had been a long and slightly stressful process. Penelope felt like she had been in an interrogation when Ted had interviewed her. She understood that it was necessary so that they could filter out the good owners from the bad ones but jeeze; Ted could rival even Hotch as an interrogator. With his passion for animals and finding them the perfect homes, she doubted anyone slipped under his radar.

However even though the interview had been uncomfortable, Penelope did not regret it. She had gotten a chance to spend some time with the small puppy before she had signed the papers and she had to agree with Ted, the pup was super sweet and friendly, there wasn't a mean bone in her body.

When Penelope had completed the adoption process, the shelter had given her a crate and Penelope had loaded the puppy, which had willingly walked into the crate, in the backseat of her car and then driven to a pet shop to get some supplies before driving home.

Penelope toed open the door to her apartment, quickly walked in and placed three full bags of goodies onto her kitchen counter. Then she hurried back outside to pick up the medium sized pet carrier she had placed there.

She lifted it carefully and brought it into her home, allowing the door to shut behind her.

Penelope placed the pet carrier on the floor in the middle of her living room and then took a step back.

She had read on a pet website that when you brought your new puppy home, you should never rush the puppy. That you needed to give it its space while it gets comfortable with its new surroundings.

So Penelope headed back to the kitchen and began going through the bags.

Penelope pulled out a large bag of puppy food and put it in the cupboard under her sink. Next came the silver water and food bowls. She walked to her recycling bin and pulled out a newspaper, she put it on the floor next to the sink and then placed the bowls on top. Finally she took out a few toys as well as the large pink dog bed she picked up and walked into the living room. She knelt down and placed the dog bed beside the couch, then placed the toys inside it.

Before she could straighten the puppy poked her head out of the carrier, sniffed the air and then walked over and sniffed at the bed. She looked up at Penelope and let out a tiny bark before flopping over and licking Penelope's hand.

Penelope laughed as she moved her hand to gently stroke the puppy's soft fur. The puppy rolled around and when Penelope began rubbing her belly, her tail began wagging a mile a minute.

Penelope grinned and lay down on the floor "You're just the cutest little thing aren't you?"

The puppy sat up and looked at her as Penelope's hands stopped rubbing her belly. "Now we just have to think of a name for you."

Penelope stared at the puppy in thought and she cocked her head at Penelope as she watched her back. Penelope grinned and scratched under the puppy's chin. "What about Angel, since you're so darn sweet?"

The puppy let out what sounded like a little huff and Penelope laughed "No huh? I guess that would be a little unoriginal."

"Maybe Daisy would be better?"

The puppy cocked her head to the side and Penelope laughed.

"Hmm, not that one either," she said sitting up and pulling out her iphone "When in doubt, search the web."

The puppy walked over to her and sniffed her iphone, her little puppy breath fogged up the screen and Penelope shook her head with a grin, she easily wiped her screen off.

"Let's see," Penelope opened her browser and typed in 'puppy names' on her search engine. "Here we go," she opened up a link "let's see what's popular these days."

The puppy looked up at Penelope, her tail wagging happily.

Penelope's free hand came down to scratch her behind the ears.

"Now, stop me when you hear one you like," Penelope said knowing the puppy couldn't understand her but still enjoying taking to her.

"Puffy, hmm no, Alfie, nope, ooh Derek would get a kick out of this one Babyee Gurl" Penelope laughed "Is that really in? Bella…reminds me too much of Twilight. Chloe, Peaches, Pickle…?" Penelope looked down at the puppy "Definitely not a Pickle."

The puppy seemed to bark in agreement before crawling into Penelope's lap.

Penelope held in an 'aww' and pet her as she continued to scan the list of dog names.

"Rosie, Trixie, Dixie, Pixie…wow very original," Penelope murmured sarcastically. "Olive, Indie, Grace, Maggie, Moxie, Sweet Pea, Tinkerbell, Pippin…"

Penelope stopped "Pippin," she let the name settle over them for a moment "maybe not but…how about Pippa?"

Penelope looked down and the puppy titled her head back before licking Penelope on the chin.

Penelope grinned "I like it," she said "Penelope and Pippa, I think it flows well."

"Well Pippa," Penelope said rubbing the puppy behind the ears "welcome to your new home."

Pippa whined playfully and again licked Penelope's face.

…

**I know I've already stated this, but I'm headed to China in 13 days and I have 14 long hours to waste while I'm on the plane. So, I'm planning to do some writing and I had a thought. Is there any Aaron/Penelope stories you would like to see done? Maybe a plot that you thought up but never had the inspiration to write. Let me know, I'd love to have some new ideas/prompts to think out on the plane. **


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